Using Postgresql, I have tables with a parent/child or a general/detail relationship, a bit like Object-Oriented inheritance:
CREATE TYPE person_kinds AS ENUM ('student', 'teacher');
CREATE TABLE person(id serial primary key, kind person_kinds, name text);
CREATE TABLE teacher(person_id integer primary key references person(id), subject text);
CREATE TABLE student(person_id integer primary key references person(id), grade integer);
That is, the person table contains all the things that are common to a person and keeps a type tag. The subtables refine the information in person by adding additional columns depending on the type; e.g. a teacher teaches a subject, a student may have a grade. This table structure is given and I cannot change it. (e.g. I don't think I could add inheritance, but I am not convinced this would help anyways)
Now I have a temp table with student data that is a "flat" version of the above. Eg
CREATE TABLE tmp_table(kind person_kinds, name text, grade integer);
INSERT INTO tmp_table(kind, name, grade)
VALUES ('student', 'Chris', 2),('student','Lara',1),('student','Izzy',3);
My question is, how to insert the data from the temp table into the above tables? I have difficulties because the insert for the student table needs the person-id as the foreign-key and because the student-table doesn't have any "distinguishing" column so I cannot join anything.
I tried things along the following lines:
with inserted_persons as
(
insert into person(type, name)
select type, name
from tmp_table
returning id --I sadly cannot return any columns from tmp_table here
)
insert into student(person_id, grade)
select
p.id, t.grade
from
-- I don't have a column to join on, and the implicit join here
-- is wrong as it crosses the tmp_table with the inserted_persons
inserted_persons as p,
tmp_table as t
I would solve that by creating a view for students:
CREATE VIEW v_student AS
SELECT person.id, person.name, student.grade
FROM person
JOIN student
ON person.id = student.person_id
WHERE person.kind = 'student';
and an INSTEAD OF INSERT
trigger:
CREATE FUNCTION ins_student() RETURNS trigger
LANGUAGE plpgsql AS
$$DECLARE
v_id integer;
BEGIN
INSERT INTO person (kind, name)
VALUES ('student', NEW.name)
RETURNING id INTO v_id;
INSERT INTO student (person_id, grade)
VALUES (v_id, NEW.grade);
RETURN NEW;
END;$$;
CREATE TRIGGER ins_student INSTEAD OF INSERT ON v_student
FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE FUNCTION ins_student();
That can be used like this:
INSERT INTO v_student (name, grade)
SELECT name, grade FROM tmp_table
WHERE kind = 'student';
TABLE person;
id │ kind │ name
════╪═════════╪═══════
1 │ student │ Chris
2 │ student │ Lara
3 │ student │ Izzy
(3 rows)
TABLE student;
person_id │ grade
═══════════╪═══════
1 │ 2
2 │ 1
3 │ 3
(3 rows)